Shake Appeal: Dead Ghosts, Human Eye, WAND, Bare Wires, Burnt Ones

Shake Appeal is a column that highlights new garage and garage-adjacent releases. This time, Evan Minsker shares a rarities comp from Dead Ghosts, the debut single from WAND, a greatest hits collection from Bare Wires, a new LP from Burnt Ones, and more.

Dead Ghosts, the surf-minded Vancouver garage bashers, have unleashed a new collection of—you guessed it—rarities. Previously available digitally as A Shitty Collection of Shitty Recordings, these 13 songs aren't merely a bunch of throwaways or joke cuts—this is a legitimately strong long-player. Tracks like "Messed Up" have this warbling, far-away quality, which makes this thing sounds like unearthed Nuggets fare. Then there are ramped-up covers of Link Wray's "Comanche" (below), the Gories' "Thunderbird ESQ", and Penatrators' "Teenage Lifestyle". Absolutely worth investigating.

Famous Class are continuing LAMC, their ongoing split 7" series with all proceeds going to the Ariel Panero Memorial Fund. The A-side artist shares an unreleased track, then that artist picks one of their favorite artists to provide the B-side. Their lates installment features a new track from Mikal Cronin, and it's backed by the debut song from WAND. It was recorded by Ty Segall, who also worked on their forthcoming full-length (that's due sometime this year via In the Red). The guitars are utterly fried, and the vocals are calm. It's an intriguing introduction for this band.

While Matthew Melton just released his very good new LP with Warm Soda, Fuzz City is offering a tour through the "hits" from his old power pop band. And hits they are: the churning immediacy of "Impossible Things", the slow-burning cool of "Idle Dreams", the dreamy and minimal chug of "Dancing on a Dime". Bare Wires records have a way of being understated but still ballsy and kinetic. These are great songs, and like almost all Melton affairs, they're summer-ready and begging to become a tape-deck mainstay.

The Bay Area's Burnt Ones don't rip through aggressive or sunny material like many of their labelmates on Burger and Castle Face. On You'll Never Walk Alone, their 2013 LP, they opened with a track called "Glitter Death", which featured an underlying drone and some serious Jesus & Mary Chain vibes. Gift provides a nice extension of that sound; they implement echoing synthetic noises and drum machines in their heady psych pop songs. And there's a sweetness to this material. "Caterpillar" and "Airplane Ride", the vocals muffled to sound as though they're encased in amber (you know, like the album art), sound like warped lullabies.